Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Infection

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection facts

CMV is spread by direct contact of body fluids such as saliva, blood, urine, semen, vaginal fluids, and breast milk.

Most healthy people do not experience any symptoms when infected with CMV. However, in those with a weakened immune system, CMV can cause serious disease (blindness, hepatitis, pneumonia, or encephalitis, for example).

HIV Infection Symptoms and Signs and CMV

Typically after years of infection with the virus, symptoms begin to appear that reflect a decreasing immune function due to a decline in the number of CD4 T cells. Some of the opportunistic infections that can occur are cytomegalovirus infection, cryptococcal meningitis, Cryptosporidium diarrhea, Pneumocystic jiroveci pneumonia (previously called Pneumocystic carinii pneumonia or PCP), Toxoplasma encephalitis, tuberculosis, and herpesvirus infections.